2 Men Found Guilty of Beating MTA Driver After Accident

A Los Angeles jury Monday found two gang members guilty of nearly killing a bus driver after an accident that killed their friend.

Lawrence Cook, 22, and Bernard LeGrone, 17, who was tried as an adult, were convicted of assault with great bodily injury for beating Metropolitan Transportation Authority driver Donald DeBoe on Nov. 6.

DeBoe was attacked after the bus he was driving struck and killed Jafar Broussard, 20, who was on a homemade motorbike when he ran a stop sign at 42nd Place and Broadway.

Witnesses testified that DeBoe was so upset he began sobbing and hitting a nearby wall in grief. But the victim’s angry friends began kicking and beating him.

During the trial, DeBoe testified that he had no memory of the accident or the beating, which sent him to the hospital for 11 days with severe head injuries. He is still out of work, suffers from headaches and walks with a shuffle, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Nicholas Koumjian.

LeGrone faces up to eight years in state prison or a California Youth Authority camp, pending a CYA recommendation. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September. Cook also faces up to eight years in prison. His sentencing date is set for July 10.